1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of fluorescent lighting. More particularly, the invention pertains to using glass structures, such as complex-shaped fibers, to construct a fluorescent lamp.
2. Description of Related Art
Previous work exists in creating plasma displays using wire electrode(s) in glass fibers to produce the structure in a display. This work was initially published by C. Moore and R. Schaeffler, “Fiber Plasma Display”, SID '97 Digest, pp. 1055–1058. A U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,747 GLASS STRUCTURES FOR INFORMATION DISPLAYS was granted on Nov. 16, 1999 pertaining to fiber-based displays.
A fiber-based plasma display patent application Ser. No. 09/299,370, PLASMA DISPLAYS CONTAINING FIBERS, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,433, issued Jul. 2, 2002, covers many different aspects of the fiber-based plasma display technology and is incorporated herein by reference. Manufacturing of fiber-based plasma displays are covered under patent application Ser. No. 09/299,350, entitled PROCESS FOR MAKING ARRAY OF FIBERS USED IN FIBER-BASED DISPLAYS now U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,987, issued Jun. 19, 2001 and Ser. No. 09/299,371, entitled FRIT-SEALING PROCESS USED IN MAKING DISPLAYS, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,899, issued Mar. 12, 2002. These two patents cover producing any multiple-strand arrayed display and could easily cover making multiple stand fiber-based fluorescent tubes and are incorporated herein by reference. In addition, a patent application Ser. No. 09/299,394, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,935, issued Aug. 13, 2002, entitled LOST GLASS PROCESS USED IN MAKING DISPLAY, teaches exposing an electrode or holding the exact fiber shape in a fiber-based plasma display and is incorporated herein by reference. Each of these patents have the same inventor as the present application.